CF Montreal-Portland Timbers Preview (5/13)

Saturday night was pretty fun! The Portland Timbers turned all of their chances into goals and decimated a hopeless Sporting Kansas City side at Providence Park. That 6-0 win set a team record for margin of victory in a MLS game. However, it’s time to get back on the airplane as the Timbers head to the East Coast for the most lengthy road trip of the season. Their first destination is the lovely city of Montreal to face a sleeping giant.

The Montreal Report

In order to begin this story, we have to step back in time to October 7th, 2023. The Montreal Impact (I will NOT be calling them by their new name) sat in 8th place; needing a big win to try and clinch a playoff spot. They welcomed the Timbers into their home, but those Timbers were missing two key players. Zac McGraw and Cristhian Paredes were instrumental to a late-season charge under interim coach Miles Joseph, and their absences proved to be tragic. Montreal blitzed the Timbers 4-1 in a driving rainstorm and the Timbers’ playoff hopes now hinged on a Decision Day home game against the Houston Dynamo.

The Impact were unable to clinch that playoff spot, and their season ended two weeks later at the hands of their former head coach Wilfried Nancy and eventual champions Columbus. Woof. Hernan Losada, who replaced Nancy prior to the 2023 season, was fired in early November. Laurent Courtois, a former Nancy assistant, replaced him in January 2024.

The 2024 Montreal Impact looked dead in the water in late June, but used a September/October power-up to win 5 of their last 7 games to make the playoffs. They finished as the 8 seed, but were knocked out by Atlanta in a penalty shootout in the Wild Card Game. Courtois’ first season was viewed as a success, and he’d surely get more time in 2025 to keep building a consistent winner in a city that is starving for a successful soccer team.

2025 opened with a typical 7-game road trip at the start of the season (due to weather). Montreal went 0-2-5 during this stretch, and Courtois was fired on March 24th; two days after the Impact lost 3-0 in Nashville. Many pundits (myself included) viewed this sacking as incredibly harsh, especially considering how tight-fisted Montreal’s owners (the Saputo Group) tend to be. Since Phil Neville was hired by the Timbers (November 2023), the Timbers have acquired 4 new DPs. Montreal has only signed 4 new DPs since 2021, and 3 of those players were intra-league signings. The days of Ignacio Piatti, Didier Drogba, and Saphir Taider are long gone.

The Saputos didn’t want to spend any legitimate money on upgrading the team, and Courtois’ sacking added to the series of clownshows that CF Montreal (that’s their actual name) are masquerading as instead of a soccer team. Interim head coach Marco Donadel (a former Montreal player) finished the season in charge as they finished with a 6-10-18 record and 28 points; two points ahead of Spoon-winning DC.

Donadel was given the full-time job in October, and the Impact responded with a very underwhelming winter transfer window. Sure, they brought in a fair amount of players, but only one of them was a permanent international signing (forward Noah Streit from FC Basel). Four players arrived from other MLS clubs (Brayan Vera via trade with RSL, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson via trade with Orlando, Wiki Carmona via trade with the Red Bulls, and Tomas Aviles on loan from Miami. Two international loans (Frankie Amaya from Toluca and Ivan Losenko from Shaktar Donetsk) and Daniel Rios completed their winter incomings. The departures included Giacomo Vrioni, Bryce Duke, Fernando Alvarez, Tom Pearce, Matias Coccaro, Dante Sealy, Jonathan Sirois, and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty.

Montreal (4-0-7, 12 points, 11E/24S) began the 2026 season with another long road trip. During their 6-game voyage, they went 1-0-5 with losses to San Diego, Chicago, Orlando, Cincy, and New England but a win against the Red Bulls. Their first home game was a 2-1 loss to Philly, and Donadel was fired one day later.

Philippe Eullaffroy took over, and Montreal’s form rebounded. A 4-1 win against the Red Bulls kicked off 4 wins in 5 games. After that Red Bull win, they defeated the other New York club 1-0 at home. However, they lost 3-1 to Atlanta the following week. A 5-0 destruction of CPL side Calgary and a 2-0 win against Orlando (both home games) followed. 

Montreal should be a lot better than they are, but ownership hasn’t followed through on their end of the bargain. With only one DP on the roster (attacking midfielder Ivan Jaime, who is on loan from Porto) and only two TAM players (starting striker Prince Owusu and former LAFC star Mahala Opoku) it’s clear that this team isn’t intent on competing for anything. Sure, the roster is littered with intriguing players, but it simply isn’t strong enough to contend. The fans in Montreal deserve a lot more.

MTL Injury Report & Projected Starting XI

Synchuk, Hidalgo, and Herbers are all squad players. Brayan Vera missed the Orlando win due to red card suspension. He is set to return tomorrow.

Although both of Montreal’s goals were scored by substitutes in last weekend’s win, their front three has clearly established themselves as “first-choice.” Petrasso will overlap Jaime, which should allow the nominal left winger to invert into the half-spaces. Bugaj does the same on the right. Loturi and Longstaff cover a lot of ground. The Timbers should be familiar with Longstaff in particular as he gave them fits when he was with Toronto last year. The starter alongside Vera is semi-unsettled, but Craig did enough against Orlando to earn another start. Gillier was excellent last year after arriving in the summer, but has seen a downturn in form in 2026. 

Owusu is the real danger man. He leads the team with 6 goals and 5 assists, although 3 of those goals have come from the penalty spot. The Ghanaian striker acts as a true focal point. Montreal can play through him and he can finish plays. He’s one of the most underrated strikers in the league.

What Montreal lacks in technical quality, they make up for in work rate. Since Eullaffroy took over, they’ve been a hard team to beat. Especially when they’re playing at home.

The Timbers Report

Portland (4-1-6, 13 points, 12W/22S) took out all their anger and frustration on Sporting Kansas City last Saturday. However, head coach Phil Neville really wants a 9-point week. Taking the strength of their upcoming opponents out of the question, I’m wondering how likely it is for the Timbers to accomplish that lofty goal. 

Midweeks

In order to do so, they’ll have to win a midweek game. Throughout Neville’s tenure, the Timbers are 6-2-4 total when they play on a Wednesday or Thursday with a game occurring on the previous weekend (playoff games included, non-MLS competitions not included). This record breaks down to 4-0-3 in 2024, 2-2-1 in 2025, and 2-2-1 in away midweek games. That’s not a terrible record, but all of those games were against fellow Western Conference opponents.

The Timbers have never traveled this far for a midweek game since they joined MLS. Neville has also been unable to author a 9-point week during his time with the Timbers. However, Portland will take the field in Montreal with an assumption of confidence following last weekend’s blowout win. They’re really going to need it.

Salary Release!

It’s a spring tradition. The MLS Players’ Association released the salaries of each player in the league. Let’s see what that means for the Portland Timbers.

Let’s start with the top of the table. Da Costa and Velde are true DPs and cannot be bought down. This was already known from last fall’s release. Mora had a $75K deduction from last year to this year. Caicedo is the last player with a $1M base salary, and he’s going to be a firm TAM player. Let’s estimate his cap hit really quickly as a fun little exercise.

The Colombian midfielder signed a 5-year contract and was purchased from Pumas for $2.58M. Since transfer fees affect the cap hit of a non-DP or non-U22 player (A VERY STUPID RULE THAT I HATE) Caicedo hits the cap at $1.516M for the Timbers (base salaries are used instead of guaranteed compensation). I’m going to assume that Aravena’s base salary is his cap hit because there hasn’t been any mention of a loan fee. Bassett’s cap hit remains at $200K due to his status as a U22 Initiative player. Kamal Miller, Aravena, Ortiz, and Mosquera are all TAM players. Caicedo wasn’t included in the latest roster profile, but he has to be TAM based on that estimated cap hit.

Miller’s contract expires at the end of this season with a club option for 2027. He received a pay increase of $30K over the offseason. Fernandez and Antony also have expiring contracts with club options for next season. Mora’s contract expires at the end of this season with no club option. I’ll get into the 2027 expirees (that’s a word) in the fall when that salary release drops.

Fory tops the second part of our table as a TAM player (due to his transfer fee-inflated cap hit). Bye hits the cap at a respectable number. This is a good time to remind all of you that Diego Chara’s contract expires in June 2027; right after the sprint season. However, the most notable numbers come from Pantemis and Surman.

Both players got slight raises after some outstanding performances in 2025. Pantemis received an extra $100K, while Surman got an extra $75K. That’s pretty good! Bonetig is the lowest earning new international signing. Gage Guerra and Ian Smith are both making $88K (Reserve Minimum deals).

On a macro scale, the Timbers rank 20th in total salary spend at $18.5M. However, that’s only $3.2M behind 10th-placed Chicago. Portland has the flexibility to add another DP in the summer, so it isn’t too surprising to see that they’ve kept the salary budget low for the early months of the season. None of these contracts score too poorly on the value scale either (although a case could be made for Mora and Fernandez). Let’s see what direction the club decides to go in during the World Cup break. 

PTFC Injury Report & Projected Starting XI

Fernandez and Zac McGraw did not make the trip to the East Coast. Juan Mosquera is available for selection for the second game in a row.

Oddly enough, even with a game against Miami looming on the weekend, I don’t think the Timbers rotate too much. Caicedo, Bassett, Da Costa, and Fory didn’t play more than an hour on the weekend. I think right back is a true toss-up between Mosquera and Bye, although I’m angling towards the veteran because rushing back Mosquera could be another disaster. Velde went the full 90 against SKC, but he cannot be dropped. I expect two former Montreal players to start in Pantemis and Miller. Lassiter is also deserving of a start following 1g/1a off the bench on Saturday, and he also played for Montreal. Get them in the lineup. Every single point and result is valuable for the Timbers. Especially on the road on short rest.

Tactical Preview

A Block

One of Eullaffroy’s changes since assuming the starting job is an abandonment of the press. The Impact use a block out of possession, and they are committed to zonally marking the pitch. This will require the Timbers to utilize off-ball runs and consistent movement to find space. While SKC willingly gave them the space to operate, Montreal will be much more compact. It’s also worth reminding everyone that the Timbers didn’t create a ton of chances against the Wizards. Montreal will be a tougher nut to crack.

To continue on the “block” theme, that’s exactly what the Timbers should be doing as well. Finding their sweet spot of a mid-block with situational pressure is the best path forward for the Timbers’ defense. Although Montreal isn’t filled with a ton of technical players in their backline, Portland needs to resist the temptation to press. Conserve energy, keep the game 0-0 as long as possible, and force Montreal to beat them with the ball. That’s the roadmap to a successful away performance.

Shooting

I would like to see the Timbers outshoot Montreal in tomorrow’s game. Portland hasn’t been a “volume” team in 2026. They rely on creating two or three big chances in each game and converting them. Taking shots from distance in addition to working the ball into the box allows the Timbers to remain threatening whenever they advance the ball into the final third. 

Do The Basics

Complete passes, win duels, defend set pieces, you name it. With this game coming on short rest and a really long travel distance, the Timbers have to remain locked-in no matter who is on the pitch. Portland’s inability to do the basics on the road has doomed them this season. It’s often denied them a chance to win from the first few minutes of a game. In order to win this game, they’ll have to be competitive for the entirety of it. Stay calm, focus, and execute.

Matchday Info

Broadcast Bulletin

English: N/A

Spanish: N/A

Home Radio Broadcast from 105.1 The Fan: not available on Apple TV

Broadcast platform: Apple TV

Kickoff time: 4:30 PM PST

Referee Report

Allen Chapman’s 2026 stats: 9 games, 15.56 fouls/game, 0.11 penalties/game, 2.89 yellows/game, 0.22 reds/game

Last Timbers game officiated: February 21, 2026 vs. Columbus (3-2 W)

Based on this statistical profile, it appears that Chapman is more than willing to let teams play on instead of holding up the game with ticky-tack fouls. Maybe that could work in the Timbers’ advantage. 

Series History

Historical record: 2-2-5, -8 goal differential

Road record: 2-0-4, -7 goal differential

Current streak: 2 losses (5 winless)

Current road streak: 3 losses

It’s another very uneven historical series, similar to Toronto. Montreal has hosted 7 times compared to 3 matches in Portland. The historical record reflects that disparity, although the Impact have (oddly) never lost at Providence Park. Montreal has hosted the last two games (with tomorrow’s counting as the third in a row) and haven’t traveled to Portland since 2018. That’s long overdue.

Table Time

A win could see the Timbers climb as high as 9th, but a loss could only drop them to 13th. Every single Western Conference team plays a game tomorrow, with Portland and Montreal constituting the only cross-conference matchup. Miami hosts the Timbers on Sunday, and they play in Cincinnati tomorrow in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Semifinal. Congratulations to Atlanta and Toronto for having a night off.

Final Whistle

Is there more I could’ve written about this game? Probably. But this is a game that doesn’t need too much of a preview. All that matters is how they perform on the pitch tomorrow. Neville, however, is looking for all three points.

“I’m going to put incredible demands on them for this game tomorrow. I think that if you look at the recent form of the inconsistencies of win, loss, win, loss, win, it’s unacceptable that we can just accept that.” 

It isn’t so much the inconsistency within the results that bugs me. It’s the complete inconsistency between this team looking competent and Spoon-worthy. The Timbers could win, lose, or draw tomorrow but I think the performance will speak louder than the result. You could argue that Saturday’s demolition provided more momentum than any of the late winners that secured Portland’s other three wins in 2026. The goals were shared, the team looked bought in, and the ruthlessness increased the scoreline to a record margin. 

Neville is intent on turning this into a 9-point week. Performances like Colorado, Minnesota, and RSL are unacceptable. But they’ve happened more often than controlled victories like SKC. Those losses are what the 2026 Timbers are, not the gigantic outlier of Saturday against a truly putrid soccer team. Proof is still required that this team can be good. 

Playoff-worthy is still out of the question until they can string two wins together; something that hasn’t happened in league play since May 28th and June 8th of last year. That was one of only two instances that the Timbers won back-to-back MLS games in 2025. In 2024, they accomplished that feat four times. Tomorrow’s game, more than anything, is a test of momentum. Montreal is entering with some after two stoppage-time goals on Saturday. The Timbers were in cruise control from the 15th minute. Can the inconsistency stop being consistent for just one game?

Some wandering eyes have to be focused on the Miami game on Sunday. There is still a massive task awaiting these Timbers before they have a date against the greatest of all time and the god squad built around him. The 2023 Timbers entered Montreal needing a big performance and a good result. They got neither, and fell on their faces in the process. That cannot happen tomorrow. The climb continues.

-By Jeremy Peterman